 | Faye Graves, a native Wichitan, attended school at Friends and Wichita State, concluding at Midwestern Theological Seminary. He has been active in media for many years with Channel 12, KIRL, KFDI, KOOO AM & FM (Omaha), KFRM & KICT 95, as an owner, manager, producer, director and announcer. He has served as President of the Haysville Board of Education. He has also served on several national boards of the Southern Baptist Convention. Faye currently serves as Executive Pastor and Director of Administration and Education at Immanuel Baptist Church, 1415 S. Topeka, Wichita. You may contact Faye by e-mail fmgraves@amenibc.org, or by phone at (316) 262-1452. |
Nostalgia
2004-08-01 11:28:00
It’s Fair time!
: Do you remember county fairs?
ANSWER: Roger Miller recorded a song many years ago, The Tom Greene County Fair. The song brought back many memories of childhood: going to the fair, eating til you were sick, riding rides, seeing shows, displays, cattle, and riding in the bed of a pick-up truck with your cousins as we left the neon lights of town in the distance. Well, it's not a county fair; but coming up this month, is the granddaddy of them all; The Kansas State Fair. I had the privilege of working at the fair for 15 years and I must say I enjoyed my time there very much. Channel 12 was my first media experience. Being in broadcasting was great; going to the fair with old black and white cameras, we established our location on the corner that we called the Broadway and Douglas intersection of the fair. We began going there in the mid-fifties, taking our total news strip and broadcasting live. As a matter of fact, we broadcasted every live show that was on the station from the fair: news, weather, sports, children's shows, ladies features, Hi Fi Hop as well as coverage of the fair events. Think back with me…there was no air conditioning in the buildings, dusty, muddy midway paths, far fewer eating-places and many more things that I have probably forgotten. But, I do miss the side shows with the carnival, motorcycles running at fast speeds inside a steel globe, human oddity shows were very prevalent: a two headed cow, (stuffed of course), the Rubber Man, Alligator Woman, Popeye (a man who could extrude his eyes at will), the man with two mouths with which he could blow cigarette smoke from, Sword Swallower, and much more. Remember Frenchie the Auctioneer who was at the fair for years? He was the absolute best, a master at starting with junk and ending by selling very expensive jewelry. And don't forget all of the pitchmen demonstrating everything from sweepers to vibrating chairs. Who could forget the great cattle and livestock displays, 4-H exhibits and projects, and the auto races? I remember a time I spent all afternoon visiting with Evil Knievel, brought to the fair by Hugo's Harley Davidson of Wichita. He made a tremendous jump and I really enjoyed his philosophy of life. There were bands from schools everywhere, and the great name personalities who came for the night shows. It's coming up again this month, September 10-19th. Everything is still there and I'll be going, so go to the State Fair and build some memories.
